Engaging Evil

William C. Olsen is a lecturer for anthropology and African studies at Georgetown University.

• IntroductionWilliam C. Olsen and Thomas CsordasPART I: EVIL AND ANTHROPOLOGYChapter 1. From Theodicy to Homodicy: Evil as an Anthropological ProblemThomas CsordasChapter 2. On the Concept of “Evil” in Anthropological Analyses and Political ViolenceByron GoodPART II: EVIL AND SUFFERINGChapter 3. Speak No Evil: Inversion and Evasion in IndonesiaAndrew BeattyChapter 4. Mother Evil in Hell Valley: A Creole Transvalorisation of Evil in TrinidadRoland LittlewoodChapter 5. Satan on the Old Kent Road: Articulations of Evil in a Pentecostal DiasporaSimon ColemanChapter 6. The Transformation of Evil in NepalDavid GellnerChapter 7. Radical Evil and the Notion of Conscience: A Buddhist Meditation on Christian SoteriologyGananath ObeyesekereChapter 8. Are Spirits Satanic? The Ambiguity of Evil in NigerAdeline MasqulierPART III: EVIL AND VIOLENCEChapter 9. Engaging Evil and Excess in Palestine / IsraelJulie PeteetChapter 10. The Violence of Evil: A Biocultural Approach to Violence, Memory, and PainVentura PerezChapter 11. The Intention of Evil: Asram in AsanteWilliam C. OlsenChapter 12. Monsters, Sadists, and the Unspectacular Torture ExperienceNerina WeissAfterwordDavid Parkin

“The volume brings nuance, complexity and ethnographic thickness to recent debates in moral anthropology, showing that anthropology is far from being ‘secure’ in its distinction between good and evil while studying suffering, and that an anthropology of evil must complement the anthropology of the good. The book is a must for anthropologists working on morality, but it is also an enticing invitation for those working on suffering, violence and structural injustice to explore the usefulness of evil as analytical category, beyond the study of emic notions.” • Social Anthropology“The various contributions offer a rich and highly variegated overview of how anthropologists have dealt with ‘evil’ and thus give a good idea of the baffling variety hiding behind this notion.” • Peter Geschiere, University of Amsterdam